Two members of the NYPD, including a detective in New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ security detail, have been placed on modified duty this week after links surfaced to two crypto businessmen charged with kidnapping an Italian tourist earlier this month, sources closes to the case told NBC New York.
Sources familiar with the case say NYPD brass learned the detective assigned to protect Adams had provided security at the Prince Street townhouse in the Nolita neighborhood, where crypto businessmen John Woeltz and William Duplessie allegedly tortured and held captive an Italian tourist for 17 days. Sources believe the detective — working off duty for the two crypto businessmen — also picked up the Italian tourist from the airport earlier this month.
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An IAB investigation underway is looking into whether the detective may have transported the tourist to the Prince Street townhouse where he was held.
It is unclear whether the detective or the other NYPD member had any knowledge or involvement in the alleged kidnap and torture plot. A source familiar with the case said that both detectives are on modified duty pending the outcome of the same investigation.
It is not unusual for members of the NYPD to moonlight in outside security jobs while off duty, though it is not known whether this particular side gig was approved by the department.
“Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty,” City Hall said in a statement. “We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing.”
Woeltz and Duplessie are both being held on multiple charges including kidnapping.
The 37-year-old Woeltz was denied bail following a grand jury indictment Thursday. He has been jailed since his bathrobed arrest Friday outside the luxury rental on Prince Street. The judge said the grand jury indictment would remain sealed until his arraignment, set for June 11. Woeltz didn’t appear in person Thursday.
The Italian tourist, who escaped after giving up his Bitcoin password after a weekslong ordeal, arrived in New York on May 6, allegedly lured there by John Woeltz and another business partner.
Duplessie surrendered to police earlier in the week and is awaiting his own indictment.
On May 6, they allegedly lured the man — whose name has not been released by officials — to the posh townhouse by threatening to kill his family.
The man said he was then held captive for 17 days, as the two investors tormented him with electrical wires, forced him to smoke from a crack pipe and at one point dangled him from a staircase five stories high.
He eventually agreed to hand over his computer password Friday morning, then managed to flee the home as his captors went to retrieve the device. The victim made it onto the street, bloodied and shoeless, according to police.
A search of the townhouse turned up cocaine, a saw, chicken wire, body armor, night vision goggles, ammunition and Polaroid photos of the victim with a gun pointed to his head, according to prosecutors.
Who is John Woeltz?
Authorities believe Woeltz is a big-name cryptocurrency trader from Kentucky with an estimated worth around $100 million; sources said the victim is worth an estimated $30 million. Woeltz had reportedly been renting out the Nolita residence at a monthly rate of at least $30,000.
The six-story pad has an elevator and was described by sources as a “high-end frat house” with bottles of liquor strewn about and stripper poles in the basement. Neighbors said they could hear loud partying at all hours of the night, but they had no idea of the alleged torture going on within its walls.
Sources told NBC New York that Woeltz and Duplessie roughed up the victim in the past, but not to the same extent. Sources described the relationship among the three as complex, with a “Wolf of Wall Street/frat guys gone wild” element to it.
The Associated Press contributed.
